Help! Should I put my tomatoes in the ground?

[grasswire]

I thought I would be a smarty and avoid bugs by putting my nine heirloom tomato plants in pots. That was weeks ago; we had a really crappy spring weatherwise.

They aren't really flourishing. I think the pots are too small. They are a bit leggy and not as dark green and glorious as the one volunteer plant that is in the soil itself. They have blossoms, but just aren't lush and strong. No fruit yet.

So I wonder about transplanting them to the ground at this time. It would be a chore to get them out of the cages and pots without damage, probably.

But I don't want to lose my investment in the plants. Damn. I was hoping for a huge, huge crop.

Maybe I should just feed them with something fabulous?

Opinions?

[hippywife]

1. Maybe you could try

feeding them some really good compost. Not sure what kind of pots they're in but is it possible that they might be in plastic pots you could cut away and lower them into bigger pots with the new compost?

[uppityperson]

2. I'd put in a bigger pot, and give some compost to. I'm in pacific northwet also.

I would not put it in the ground now, but perhaps could put into another pot? If they are in plastic pots you don't care about, put that into a bigger pot, and cut the edges off in place, putting more soil around as you go. If you don't do that, at least put some compost in with them.

Here are my tomatoes (in western wa, great pacific northwet):

I have a cherry tomato in a big pot outside next to our cement foundation for warmth and it is just setting the first couple tomatoes. I have a small-tomato (roma?) plant in the ground and it's just started flowering. Our Early Girl we put in a big pot 2 yrs ago and brought inside the last 2 yrs is still going strong. Took off the 10 smallish red tomatoes and gave it a good pruning back to a foot tall as it got really leggy. I'm planning on putting it on the porch this fall, see if it will survive another winter. I'd like to bring it inside again so we can have tomatoes in March, but my husband is tired of it taking up so much space inside.

[grasswire]

4. you can prune them at the top??

that's interesting. That might make them more bushy. Because I have nine different varieties of heirlooms, some very odd, I don't know exactly what to expect in their growing patterns.

[uppityperson]

7. Yes, they get bushier, but this can also help make fruit set faster too.

With my outside ones, I start picking off new tops at ends and along the sides of branches in the fall to direct the energy into tomatoes. The Early Girl we've had for yrs inside gets about 3 ft long before it has trouble getting enough out to tips and starts getting really droopy, so I try to keep her shorter. She's now under a foot and branching out again.

I didn't know they were perennials either until she lived through the winter inside and is still going.

One of these days I'm getting heirlooms. What all do you have, and where did you get them from? I live in the town that Abundant Life was in before they got burnt out in a fire. They had really cool stuff.

[NJCher]

10. ah, heirlooms

don't expect them to look like your regular hybrid tomato plants. One year I grew all heirlooms (ah yes, documented here) and I also grew them in pots and hanging containers. It took until mid-Sept. to get a tomato! Not only do heirlooms look different than a hybrid tomato, they often bear fruit much later.

I think the watering/feeding each time and the piling on of composted cow manure are the best ideas for you, considering the circumstances.

BTW, after that year of growing heirlooms only, I went back to raising both heirlooms and hybrids. I had good results with that last year. I had a terrific crop of heirlooms throughout the last half of July and on through September/early October. The hybrids bloomed in early July and kept us in BLTs.



Cher

[asdjrocky]

8. You've kept an Early Girl going for 2 years?

I had no idea they could do that. I have an EG that is just now getting a blush on a few tomatoes and there are about 20 greenies on it in various stages. I've kept it very pruned, so there aren't a lot of leafs, and it sits in a big laundry basket that can easily be moved. I had no idea I could keep the plant going.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. If the pots are plastic nursery pots, cut off the bottom.

Dig a hole about half the depth of the pots and sink them in. They'll find the new soil and start growing.

If they're in good pots, then feed them more frequently and consider adjusting the location so that they get more direct afternoon light.

[grasswire]

5. they are getting full sun all daylight hours

So that isn't the problem. Interesting idea about sinking the pots in the soil, but I think they are too thick to cut through.

[Gormy Cuss]

6. The thin walled nursery pots are pretty easy to cut. .

Using a utility knife and heavy shears I've cut off the bottoms of thin nursery pots and sunk the whole thing -- the roots don't have much shock that way and it solves the problem of transplanting with the cage. Heavy plastic pots, no dice.

One recommended way to feed container vegetables is to make a very weak solution and apply it every time you water. I haven't tried that myself.

[asdjrocky]

9. I've got a few plants in containers, and most are doing well.

But they are more leggy. How deep is the container? I use mostly deep laundry baskets, with a plastic bag inside, or large storage containers. I was told as long as the container is 18" deep, the plants will do fine.